Sunday, December 5th, 2010
Cordier Auditorium
Scott Humphries, Conductor
Sleigh Ride | Leroy Anderson | |||
Fantasia on "Greensleeves" | Ralph Vaughan Williams | |||
Adapted from the opera Sir John in Love by Ralph Greaves |
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It's a Wonderful Life | Dmitri Tiomkin | |||
With the Manchester College A Cappella Choir | ||||
I. Prelude |
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Christmas Singalong | John Finnegan | |||
Intermission | ||||
Excerpts from Messiah | George Frederic Handel | |||
With the Manchester College A Cappella Choir Dr. Debra Lynn, conducting |
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I. Sinfony |
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Program Notes by James R. C. Adams |
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Sleigh Ride |
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) |
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Anderson studied composition at Harvard with Georges Enesco and Walter Piston. He was a linguist, specializing in German and Scandinavian languages, and served with U.S. Intelligence in Iceland and the U.S. during the Second World War. |
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Fantasia on "Greensleeves" | Ralph
Vaughan-Williams (1872-1958) |
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Today, we hear his Fantasia on "Greensleeves." There is much debate about the origin of the tune and the meaning of its words. Rumor has it that it was written by Henry V, making references to the rejection of his advances by the maiden of his choice. But there is no evidence that he wrote the work. Its earliest report is found in Trinity College, Dublin, dated 1580. Like so many tunes of folk origin, it has been used by countless composers down through the ages. Green had some sexual connotations in the past, and sometimes was an allusion to a "loose woman." Her skirts would show green stains from having been outdoors in an interesting position, but that would be refuted by the words that went with the music, where she "discourteously rejects" the advances of her lover. In Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mistress Ford refers twice to the tune of Greensleeves without explanation. It is a very old tune. |
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It's a Wonderful Life |
Dmitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) |
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Born in Russia, he studied under Alexander Glazunov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He briefly played the piano to accompany silent films before he moved, first to Paris, and then to the U.S. He gave the first performance of Gershwin's Concerto in F in Europe. In America, he found his calling. He declared that he was writing "music for a machine in the age of machines." Some of the many scores he wrote were for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Meet John Doe, You Can't Take it with You, Duel in the Sun, Friendly Persuasion, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Rio Bravo, and Red River, to name a few. I suspect you are very familiar with his music. Today, we will hear what is perhaps his most beloved score, for the Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life. It might surprise you to know that he hated that score as it was heard in the movie, and would never listen to it after the film came out. Here is what Tiomkin had to say about his most popular score: "The picture was in the best Capra style. Frank thinks it the finest he ever made. I never saw it after it was completed. After the music was on the sound track, Frank cut it, switched sections around, and patched it up, an all-around scissors job. After that I didn't want to hear it." |
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Excerpts from Messiah |
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) |
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Handel had a complex personality. On the one hand, he was pious and sentimental to the point of crying over his own music when it dealt with the sufferings of the Lord. On the other hand, he had an uncontrollable temper which prompted associates to play practical jokes on him, sometimes resulting in violence. A prankster once untuned all the instruments just before a concert for the Prince of Wales, and Handel was so enraged that he picked up a kettle-drum and threw it at the concertmaster. He was persuaded to continue the concert only after the Prince made a personal plea. Handel had no patience with incompetence, but he did have a sense of humor. When a singer complaining about Handel's style of accompaniment threatened to jump on the harpsichord and smash it to pieces, Handel calmly replied that if the singer gave ample warning, he would publicize the event, because he was sure that more people would come to watch the singer jump on a harpsichord than to hear him sing. Handel was an almost exact contemporary of J.S. Bach, born in the same year and dying nine years later than Bach. They had similar backgrounds, came from the same part of Germany, were both devout Protestants, but they were temperamentally quite different. While Bach remained steadfastly middle class and spent his meager earnings on raising a large family, Handel was a cosmopolitan who traveled widely, made and lost fortunes, and mingled with the aristocracy and the intellectual elite. He was overwhelmed by Italy, where he spent much time. His Italianate operas were very successful, and brought him great fame in England soon after he arrived there. In the span of less than forty years, he wrote forty-six operas, all in Italian style. When the public's interest in Italian opera began to wane, Handel began to work more in the oratorio form. His "second career" made him even more famous, and today he is known mostly for his oratorios, of which his Messiah is the most performed. |
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Manchester Symphony Orchestra Personnel |
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Violin I Dessie Arnold, Concertmaster Lois Clond Paula Merriman Rachel Nowak +^ Ilona Orban Liisa Wiljer Violin II Joyce Dubach * Martha Barker Erin Cole +^ Jennifer Iannuzzelli +^ Tyler Krempasky + Linda Kummernuss Alyssa Loos +^ Viola Naida MacDermid * Kelsey Airgood +^ Julie Sadler Margaret Sklenar Cello Robert Lynn * Margery Latchaw Bass Darrel Fiene * Piccolo Barbi Pyrah Flute Kathy Urbani * Kathy Davis Barbi Pyrah Oboe George Donner * Nyssa Gore English Horn George Donner |
Clarinet Lila D. Hammer * Mark W. Huntington Sarah Leininger +^ Bassoon Erich Zummack * Horn John Morse * Carol Campos +^ Kristen Hoffman +^ Christen Humphries Trumpet Steven Hammer * Nicholas Kenny +^ Trombone Jon Hartman * Larry Dockter Timpani Dave Robbins * Percussion Dave Robbins * Todd Eastis + Piano/Celeste Debra Lynn Harpsichord Alan Chambers Harp Tim Reed * Denotes principal + Denotes MC student ^ Denotes Keister Scholarship recipient |
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Manchester A Cappella Choir Personnel |
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Soprano I Casey Faricelli Aliyah Johnson Lila Hammer + Caitlin Kessler + Holly Rittenhouse + Kimberlee Weaver Cassie Whitaker + Soprano II Nicole Glassley Emily Goins Kaylee Hawley *+ Emilie Hunt Kelly Iler Sheila Prather Darcy Robins *+ Alto I Megan Bucher * Elena Bohlander + Katy Dunlap Kay Guyer *+ Angelina Jung Genevieve Kidwell Brittany Stevens Carrie Waits Miriam Zielinski Alto II Melissa Byler Tonya Colwell Aimee Hoffbauer Sha' Howard Brittany Kurtz Shanice Logan Katy McFadden * Jessica Rinehart + Angela Smith |
Tenor I Wallace Butts *+ Andrew Miller + Kahler Willits Tenor II Raymond Jackson Robert Bucher + Nick King David Myrick + Jeremy Walters Bass I Alex Drew + Daniel Myers-Bowman *+ Will Rhudy + Jeremiah Sanders + Chris Teeters Bass II Dylan Hiner Derek Jones Phil Keim Kyle Leffel *+ Craig Morphew * Denotes section leaders + Denotes semi-chorus Director Debra Lynn, conductor Alan Chambers, rehearsal pianist Matthew Tarte, sectional pianist |